You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Hansard > Commons Debates > Commons Debates by date > Commons Debates - previous sessions > Bound Volume Hansard - Written Answers
Previous Section Index Home Page

New Deal

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will provide the most recent data on the outcomes of those people who had their initial New Deal interview in January 1998. [156271]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 30 March 2001]: While we do not track people in the longer term once they have left the New Deal programme, we do keep details of their immediate destination on leaving. Of the 4,032 young people who had their initial interview in January 1998, 39 per cent. left New Deal for unsubsidised employment,

3 Apr 2001 : Column: 117W

10 per cent. transferred to another benefit, 25 per cent. left for another known destination, and 24 per cent. left to an unknown destination.

Comprehensive surveys have shown that 56 per cent. of those young people who are recorded as having left for an unknown destination are likely to have entered employment.

Education Development Plans

Mr. Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to change the year of calculation of education development plans to a financial year basis. [156442]

Ms Estelle Morris: Local education authorities' targets for raising pupil attainment are the key elements of an education development plan. These targets are necessarily related to schools' academic years. Information about an authority's planned expenditure in support of their EDP is already included in the plan on a financial year basis. New regulations and guidance will be required for the next generation of EDPs from 2002, which are under consideration.

Beacon Schools

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list those Beacon schools which have received a second Ofsted inspection and those which have received Beacon status following a second inspection. [156475]

Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 2 April 2001]: Inspection evidence is an important factor in the award of Beacon status and in the process of validating a school's continuing operation as a Beacon, but it is not the sole determining criterion. Consistently high performance in relation to school circumstances and the capacity, experience and willingness to build partnerships with other schools are also key factors that are taken into account. We have no record of how many inspections a school may have received prior to being awarded Beacon status. However, 111 Beacon schools have received an Ofsted inspection since becoming a Beacon:



3 Apr 2001 : Column: 118W







3 Apr 2001 : Column: 119W



Literacy and Numeracy

(Shrewsbury and Atcham)

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much was spent by schools on (a) literacy and (b) numeracy in Shrewsbury and Atcham (i) in May 1997 and (ii) on the most recent date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [156492]

Ms Estelle Morris: The Department does not collect information on the level of spending by individual schools on particular areas of expenditure. In 1997-98, Shropshire LEA received £233,000 for books for schools. Since 1998-99, Shropshire LEA has been allocated total funding of £3,846,472 to support the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies in primary schools, including funding for books for schools. This also includes the allocations now made for 2001-02 of £619,405 for literacy and £669,904 for numeracy. For 2001-02, Shropshire has also been allocated funding of £399,823 for the English and mathematics strands of the Key Stage 3 Strategy.

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of 11 year-olds in Shropshire attained marks above the national average in (a) English and (b) mathematics (i) in May 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [156644]

3 Apr 2001 : Column: 120W

Ms Estelle Morris: The percentage of eligible pupils attaining level 4 or above in the English and mathematics Key Stage 2 assessment tests for 1997, 1998 and 2000 in the Shropshire local education authority are shown in the table;

Percentage

English Mathematics
YearShropshireEnglandShropshireEngland
1997(13)6263(13)6162
199869656459
200079757772

(13) 1997 figures for Shropshire relate to the local education authority prior to the local Government re-organisation of April 1998.


The Government have set themselves the target of 80 per cent. of 11 year-olds reaching the expected level in English and 75 per cent. reaching the expected level in mathematics by 2002.

In 2000, the percentage of children reaching level 4 in English rose by 4 per cent. from 71 to 75 per cent., building on the previous year's 6 per cent. increase. This means that there has been a 10 percentage point rise since 1998. In mathematics, the percentage of children achieving level 4 has risen by 3 per cent. from 69 to 72 per cent. This means that there has been a 13 percentage point rise since 1998. In Shropshire, between 1998 and 2000, the increase in performance of pupils in both English and mathematics was the same as the national rate.

The results show teachers and pupils are firmly on track to meet the targets. There is also more evidence beneath the headline figures of the success of the literacy and numeracy strategies. The results show that standards are also being raised in the earliest years of primary education.

Next Section Index Home Page